Chapter 78: Awakening
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[Neberius, The Eleventh Apostle of Death, King of Cunningness] has manifested himself!]
[Aim, The Twelfth Apostle of Death, King of Anger] has manifested himself!]
[The two Apostles of Death have merged their Manifesting bodies with [Astaroth, The Tenth Apostle of Death, King of Brutality], vastly increasing his stats, power, and regeneration speed!]
[All Wounds on their vessel have been instantly regenerated!]
[Demonic Power of three Apostles of Death at once is overflowing across the entire surrounding area! Foes that are weakened by this aura will receive a penalty of -60% on all stats!]
FLASH!
The very presence of this chimeric, demonic abomination unleashed a deadly aura of pure malice. Not even Jack was completely immune to this power, as the darkness shrouding his body was beginning to slowly weaken.
"Fenrir, this power... Is it really three damn apostles in one?!" Jack muttered, gritting his teeth.
"I can't believe they've done something so reckless! Yet somehow it worked out." Fenrir muttered. "Those three are known as the weakest of the twelve apostles, yet I guess even weaklings like those can become mighty if they merge their strength as one!"
"Dammit all, we'll have to just push through!" Jack roared as he evaded several attacks coming from the gigantic chimeric beast.
Enormous tiger-like claws constantly tried to cut him down to pieces, while thousands of sharp black feather projectiles flew toward him, trying to pierce his body.
However, Jack's speed and maneuverability were top-notch; he swiftly evaded the gigantic and sluggish attacks, and as he fired big daggers made out of shadows, he materialized with his new powers.
"{Explosive Shadow Dagger Rain}!"
The daggers reached the gigantic monster, swiftly beginning to glow with darkness and then exploding one after another, covering the beast's body with huge wounds!
"AARGH!" Aim groaned in agony, half of their combined body suddenly beginning to fall apart.
"Useless cat! Move better! CRAAH!" Neberius roared angrily, suddenly unleashing a demonic power.
The mass of flesh that was dropped couldn't be eaten by Jack in time before it started glowing bright red, exploding right in front of his face!
BOOOM!
"Unnggh…! Shit!" Jack muttered, stepping away as his armor started shattering into pieces, wounds showing beneath it.
"CRAHAHAHA!Did you think I wouldn't predict that you would try to eat that?!" Laughed Neberius. "We all know you very well, FENRIR! {Demonic Feather Projectile Rain}!"
Thousands of black feathers flew down, chasing around Jack. Whenever they landed on a surface, a huge explosion of dark spikes emerged, piercing and shattering anything in their surroundings! These feathers were much more lethal than Fenrir remembered!
"That damn bird bastard got an upgrade to his only damn ability?!" Fenrir muttered in frustration. "Jackie, do you think you can get to them?!"
"I'll do my best!" Jack roared. "{Demonic Shadow Wolf Awakening}!"
Jack's heart suddenly started beating faster and faster as it turned completely black, absorbing his near-infinite amounts of shadows and darkness. The armor quickly began to change shape, becoming much more feral and monstrous.
"RAAAHH!"
With a huge leap, he reached the trio of combined demons, his demonic sword glowing with mighty power. Hundreds of swings and strikes were unleashed in a matter of seconds! Aim screamed in agony, his side suffering the most damage, while Neberius hid behind him, constantly firing the deadly feather projectiles! More and more explosions of darkness spread across the entire battlefield. The two powerful titans clashed constantly, claws against swords, releasing deadly shockwaves everywhere. Darkness spread and consumed it all.
"HAHAHHA! What's wrong, Fenrir?!" The three demonic voices echoed as one. "Weren't we disposable trash before?! How the tables have turned! Your human can barely keep up with our combined strength."
Suddenly, the draconic jaws of Astaroth opened right while Jack was being pummeled by constant punches from Aim's muscular arms and bombarded by Neberius' explosive feathers!
"This is your END!"
A gigantic, all-consuming beam of pure demonic energy made up of three demons at once was unleashed at full power. Jack quickly shapeshifted his chest into a huge and monstrous jaw, attempting to swallow the entire attack at once!
"No! Jack, stop!"
Fenrir tried to stop Jack; if he were to consume it all, his body would simply not be able to hold all the power, and it would simply explode! And that's exactly what happened.
BOOOM!
Jack's entire body was consumed by the explosion, as he felt his insides tearing down and exploding. His flesh, bones, everything! His body fell down to the floor like a ragdoll, resembling a charred corpse.
"JACK!!!"
Fenrir screamed in shock, quickly activating several skills and slowly beginning to recover Jack's body before it was to fully die. His charred flesh was replaced by new flesh, and his skin slowly started to regenerate back to normal. Jack tried to stand back up, his body melting into shadows and quickly evading a gigantic foot attempting to crush him.
"Hah! Damn rat! Come here and let me crush you once and for all!" The voice of Aim echoed.
Suddenly, a shadow mass emerged right behind the trio of demons. Jack materialized right in that instant, Gram glowing with constant power as he pierced the sword into the demon's back! The demons naturally felt that pain. The demonic dragon-slaying sword constantly absorbed their blood and energy, but their power was simply too much for half a relic to handle on its own anyway.
"BASTARD!"
A gigantic fist hit Jack before he could escape into the shadows again, sending him to the floor and shattering the ground with a loud bang! An enormous crater was formed with constant, spider-web cracks as the shockwave of the hit alone seemed to make the entire world tremble! Jack felt his insides being crushed to mush as he vomited more than just blood, but his own guts. His bones shattered into hundreds of pieces, and his body was barely regenerating after that.
"Hahh… Hahahaha…! We've defeated even Fenrir now!" Aim celebrated.
"We're invincible!" Neberius laughed cockily. "And once we can devour all of those human souls, our manifestation will ascend into an even greater form, CRAAH!"
"Now… It is finally time to crush you, dog!" Aim laughed. "Don't worry, once your vessel is completely dead, we'll make sure to assimilate whatever is left of you!"
"W-What?!" Fenrir groaned in horror.
"You'll live within our combined body! Isn't that a great privilege?!" Laughed Neberius. "CRAHAHAHA! We'll attain your Gluttony's powers and devour every constellation that gets in our way!"
"But for that… We must CUT the ties connecting you with your new vessel…" Aim smiled, and suddenly, a mass of pure darkness materialized on one of his gigantic, muscular arms—a massive axe. "{Beheading Demonic Axe of Wrath: Silmara}!"
The demonic axe was covered in black and purple flames, glowing with tremendous, calamitous might. The demonic weapon moved down, as its name suggested; it was made to behead demons in their realm, a deadly ancient relic once wielded by the most barbaric of Demon Kings, more than capable of beheading divine beasts such as Fenrir!
CRASH!
Silmara reached down, hitting its target, and an enormous explosion of black flames spread out everywhere. As if its physicality were already unparalleled, the deadly weapon let out powerful flames that burned everything that touched it.
"Hahaha… HAHAHA! Now it is over! Come and join us, Fenrir-Huh?"
As the three demons glanced down with their various eyes, there was a look of shock on their monstrous faces. Instead of the splattered body of Jack on the floor, as the smoke dissipated, what they saw instead was a girl.
Her pale body was covered with a cosmic coat of pure energy, resembling the beautiful depths of outer space itself. Stars shone brightly; even nebulae could be seen across her eyes and face, which seemed to have no nose or mouth other than two bright eyes, resembling spiraling galaxies.
Her long brown hair became a sea of darkness, shining with thousands of stars. Her chest, still showing an ugly wound, emanated cosmic energy around her surroundings.
At first, the demons weren't able to sense her arrival at all, yet now that they saw her... They felt utter fear.
This was a presence similar to the very Constellations they feared—beings beyond their comprehension that ascended to mortality.
Yet, it was even more intimidating.
Her small hand, grasping the legendary ancient demonic axe, was holding the weapon so tightly that cracks started spreading across its blade.
Crack… CRACK!
"H-Huh? W-Who are you?"
Crack, crack!
"O-Oi!"
Crack, crack…!
While still trying to process it, the demons panicked!
"YOU! STOP HOLDING THE WEAPON!" Their combined roars echoed as a storm of projectile feathers and gigantic muscular arm punches descended towards her.
Crack, crack…!
CRASH!
Silmara broke into pieces within a split second, and as their attacks were about to hit the girl, she disappeared from the scene while holding her brother in her arms. When they tried to attack her, the trio of demons only ended up hitting the ground!
"F-Fast! Way too fast!" Aim thought.
"Oi, you've got to be kidding me... That wasn't even fast speed; that was... teleportation?!" Neberius was shocked.
"H-How can a human achieve such a deep level of Space-Time Magic Comprehension?!" Aim thought, glaring back at the girl as she looked at her dear brother with sorrowful eyes.
A coat of cosmic light covered his tattered body, healing his wounds slowly.
"Y-You're… Anna?!" Fenrir muttered. Yet the girl only nodded; it seemed she couldn't speak in this form for some reason.
"…!" She pointed at a faraway building.
"But let me help you!" Fenrir cried.
"YOU! ARE YOU IGNORING US?!" The trio of demons roared at the same time, beginning to charge towards Anna!
Anna looked like she sighed, suddenly generating a sphere of cosmic energy and launching Fenrir and Jack away like volleyball seconds before several gigantic fists were to reach her once more! However, the fists only hit the ground as she teleported away in a second, her cosmic body emanating the brightness of the stars.
"You're one annoying brat! We'll crush YOU!!!" Aim roared, his demonic power coursing through his body and enhancing his speed!
With a powerful leap of energetic speed, the trio of demons reached Anna once more, claws, feather projectiles, and draconic breath being unleashed together.
Yet…
"…"
A gigantic palm of pure cosmic energy was formed out of the girl's very hair, which slapped the entire body of the trio of demons into the ground. Their bodies were twisted, and pieces of flesh were splattered around their surroundings.
BAAAM!
"U-Unnggh?!"
The Cosmic Pressure was tremendous; their bodies couldn't even hold it much longer.
"Y-You…! STOP! YOU CAN'T JUST-"
Suddenly, the girl disappeared and appeared everywhere all at once, moving at an incredible speed. A single sword in her hands absorbed her cosmic energy, as the trio of demons didn't understand what was happening before realizing it.
Their entire body was cut down into pieces.
Fear quickly filled their demonic hearts, as the demons constantly asked who she was, what she was, and how she could be so strong?!
"T-This is impossible! Who are you?! Are you an Administrator?! A Constellation?!"
Anna kept glancing at them silently.
Yet suddenly, she actually spoke into their minds through telepathy.
"I'm your end."
"AH!"
Their hearts froze in utter horror, a horror that these demons had never felt before other than the time their realm was invaded by the Celestial Realm so many eons ago.
The girl's chest started glowing with bright cosmic energy, and then a gigantic beam of pure destruction was unleashed.
The beam consumed the demons; their manifestations were disintegrated, and this attack even reached their souls, far away from this world, severely damaging them all.
"T-This is…"
"Not…"
"P-Possible…"
BOOOMMM!!
The explosion of cosmic energy reached even the skies, spreading across the dark clouds and making them disappear. However, this power quickly dissipated, unable to reach the Demon Castle.
Nonetheless, everybody in Stronghold was able to see what happened, their eyes wide in shock. Even the traitorous and lecherous Lee Hengyang was too terrified of what Anna had become to even confront her.
"W-What is she?!" He muttered, gritting his teeth. "I-I have to retreat…! I can't die yet!"
Anna slowly fell to her knees, groaning in pain.
"U-Ungh… Hahh… Argh…"
As if her chest had become a black hole, the cosmic coat covering her entire body was absorbed back into her new heart, leaving her weakened and frail body exposed.
"I-I can't handle… the headache… Urgh… J-Jack…"
Before she could even crawl towards her brother, she slowly fell unconscious.
"Anna?! It's you?! You're alive! ANNA!"
"S-She's alive?! Oh, thank God… But what… what was that just now?!"
"I don't know, but we need to bring her to safety!"
"W-Where is Jack- Urgh… Where is he?!"
"Lady Sara's corpse is gone?"
"Just bring her to safety, dumbass!"
"Argh!"
As she heard many familiar voices, Anna fell completely unconscious, leaving her fate to them.
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